Soviet Concept Research Articles

The Earth in the Land: Internationalism, Regional Culturalism, and Cosmopolitanism in 1960s Films from Soviet Ukraine

Abstract In the film history of the Ukrainian ssr, the Thaw is regarded as the era of the rebirth of a national Ukrainian cinema. Both films celebrating regional diversity and films merely drawing on local crews and infrastructure are said to have contributed to a national film culture. I look at three distinct approaches to the Soviet concept of multinationality to show that the rebirth of a national cinema was characterized by approaches that did not claim a distinct national identity for Ukraine. Instead, directors facing regional diversity either transcended Ukraine’s cultural environment (through internationalism), undercut it (through what I call regional culturalism), or ignored it altogether (through cosmopolitanism). With the help of this typology, I point to the complex cultural politics of the time. The Soviet Ukrainian films I discuss exemplarily were not part of a common national project at the time, though they may have contributed to it as time passed.

Psychiatric Rehabilitation in the GDR against the Background of Soviet Influences

The study describes developments and local models of psychiatric rehabilitation in the GDR and the USSR. After the Second World War patient care was focused on hospitals. The Rodewisch Theses and the Brandenburg Theses as well as the "Conception to improve the patient care for mentally ill people after 1980" were important suggestions. The GDR primary literature review shows that soviet concepts were often received. The principles of stages, continuity and sectorization set the stage for success here and there. Transition units such as psychoneurological dispensaries, the occupational/protected workshops and assisted residences, therapeutic clubs, day and night hospitals were created. The occupational therapy was intended to facilitate the transition into the normal working. As a consequence, during the 1970s and 1980s in the GDR a high level of employment of mentally ill people in the economy could be achieved.

On the question of the dialectic of scientific knowledge in russian philosophy: the problem of reflection

The subject of the study is the phenomenon of reflection in the structure of the mechanisms of scientific cognition. The results of studying the phenomenon obtained within the framework of Russian philosophy in different periods of its development – the Soviet and modern stages - are compared. Attention is drawn to the fundamental nature of the research results of scientific reflection obtained during the Soviet period of philosophy development. In the philosophy of that period, the concept of reflection was proposed, which remained outside the field of view of modern research. A feature of the subject of the Soviet concept is the identification of two aspects of scientific reflection – the relationship between reflection and rationality, as well as the relationship between the meaning-setting and meaning-revealing functions of reflection. The subject of modern domestic research is influenced by the Western tradition. Its characteristic feature is the isolation of reflexive thinking on oneself or, in Soviet terminology, the reduction of scientific reflection to a semantic function. The research method is a dialectical-materialistic approach. The peculiarity of the study is the use of internal contradictions of reflection. The novelty of the work is characterized by the application of the results of Soviet dialectical-materialistic research to modern analysis. It is shown that the modern discussion of this problem is in a dialectical context, constituted by the framework of interrelated opposites. The idea is expressed that the dialectical-materialistic approach continues to be fundamental and is an adequate method of considering reflection. In particular, the dialectical-materialistic methodology will contribute to overcoming, in the words of one of the modern researchers, the "epistemological impasse" with which he characterizes the results of modern study. The conclusion is made about the need to resume dialectical research.

ПАРАЛЕЛІ В ЕКСПЕРИМЕНТАЛЬНІЙ ПРАКТИЦІ АРХІТЕКТУРІ ЖИТЛА ЗАХІДНОГО ТА УКРАЇНСЬКОГО АВАНГАРДУ

The article is devoted to the parallels in the practice of experiments of the Western and Ukrainian avant-garde in the field of residential architecture of the 1920s and early 1930s, case study is Kharkiv early modernist residential architecture. The article examines the social and residential early modernist architectural concepts of the metropolitan Kharkiv as an example of a combination of avant-garde Soviet concepts of forming a new social consciousness and Western concepts of residential architecture. It was in the early 1920s that the issue of housing began to be included in political discourse. Architecture and urban planning were seen as the main tool for solving social problems, which in the following years would become a trend in Europe and the United States, as well as in Soviet Ukraine. The study identifies the main global trends in residential architecture of the 1920s and 1930s and shows the peculiarities of the implementation of avant-garde concepts inspired by both global trends and Soviet narratives of creating a new person and a new society using architecture as an instrument. In the 1920s. the formation of architectural and urban planning concepts in Soviet Ukraine was in line with the main social ideas of the architectural and urban planning practice of the West in the following sequence uncritical borrowing of Western "bourgeois" models - "garden city"; attempts at social innovation inspired by the classics of utopian socialism - " house-commune" as a reincarnation of the phalanster; designing new functional-spatial models as a means of implementing social doctrine - " residential combines"; socio-economic invention in the context of sectoral planning - "social city". Practical testing of the models created at each stage became an incentive for new searches.

Reflexive Control as a Risk Factor for Using OSINT: Insights from the Russia–Ukraine Conflict

Special governmental services, security services of leading companies, and private researchers rely on open-source intelligence (OSINT). With the development of the Internet and social networks, open-data intelligence is increasingly turning from a subtle art into a “mechanical” process—the more data, the better. OSINT professionals’ competence enables verification of information and minimizes the chances of deception unless the intention of the investigation and the data’s locale are previously known to their adversary. In this very case, the hunter can get into a trap dexterously rigged by an adversary. This article discusses the risks of disinformation through open sources in the context of the Soviet concept of “reflexive control”; that is, imposing unfavorable decisions on the enemy through the introduction of incorrect premises, exemplified by the experience of the Russian–Ukrainian conflict since 2014. The article evaluates the influence exerted on the governmental and military decisions by disinformation through open sources, examining several reported cases. Systematization of data on previous attempts at reflexive control, such as Russian information operations, can increase the accuracy of assessing the depth of an enemies’ reflexion, which helps to reveal their operational plans and predict further actions because disinformation often precedes other forms of aggression.

“A Threat to the Childhood”: Civil War in the Pyrenees in the Coverage of Soviet Periodicals for Children

In 1936–1939, the Spanish Civil War was a hot topic used for military-patriotic upbringing and political socialization of children. This article shows has the events in Spain were portrayed in periodicals for preschoolers and primary schoolchildren, including texts and visualizations. While the official perspective of the Spanish events in the USSR was dictated by the Party, children’s optics was tuned using its own means and methods, customized to the psychology of this age group. The article discloses the goals of exploiting this topic in the Soviet child-targeting discourse, reveals the most common plotlines, pinpoints the specific emotion-inciting tricks. In propaganda work with children, the extreme polarization of good and evil was used, embodied in two political forces — fascists and republicans. The theme was adapted for children through the extensive use of peer images, central among which were child heroes and child martyrs. The image of the Spanish child-hero corresponded to the Soviet concept of a child walking in the forefront of society. At the same time, attention was focused on the difficulties experienced by the children of Spain, who experienced a “threat to childhood”, which fed the ideologeme of “happy Soviet childhood”, the exclusivity of Soviet children. The participation of powerful artistic forces in the information campaign resulted in the construction of a sublimely romantic image of Spain and the Spaniards with an aura of inflexibility and fortitude, corresponding to the ideal of a Soviet person. There was a feeling of connection between the Soviet and Spanish loci of heroism and people of heroic professions, among which pilots and border guards came to the fore. The figures selected to create the pantheon of Civil War heroes and the ways to fit the images of Franco and Stalin into the context are demonstrated.

The Soviet scientific programme on AI: if a machine cannot ‘think’, can it ‘control’?

AbstractThis article analyses the intellectual and institutional development of the artificial-intelligence (AI) research programme within the Soviet Academy of Sciences from the 1970s to the 1980s. Considering the places and ideas from which it borrowed, I contextualize its goals and projects as part of a larger technoscientific movement aimed at rationalizing Soviet governance, and unpack shared epistemological and cultural assumptions. By tracing their origins to debates accompanying the introduction of cybernetics into Soviet intellectual and political life in the 1950s and early 1960s, I show how Soviet conceptions of ‘thinking machines’ interacted with dialectical materialism and communist socio-technical imaginaries of governance and control. The programme of ‘situational management’ developed by Dmitry Pospelov helps explain the resulting conception of AI as control systems aimed at solving complex tasks that cannot be fully formalized and therefore require new modelling methods to represent real-world situations. This specific orientation can be understood, on the one hand, as a research programme competing with systems analysis and economic cybernetics to rationalize Soviet management, and, on the other hand, as a field trying to demarcate itself from a purely statistical or mathematical approach to modelling cognitive processes.

Soviet Politics of Memory in Southern Bessarabia and Northern Bukovyna: Representation of the Past and Mythmaking during World War II

The incorporation of new territories into the Ukrainian SSR during World War II required reconstructing the local community’s identity and shaping its historical memory through Stalinist ideology. This article examines the features of Soviet memory politics in Ukrainian territories through the examples of Southern Bessarabia and Northern Bukovyna, which were annexed in 1940 due to the military campaign against Romania. The study’s objectives were to determine the influence of Soviet ideology on the representation of the past, characterize the ways that the official memory was shaped during World War II, and analyze historical myths that spread throughout the official and historical discourse. The main historical images, which Soviet ideologists formulated in official statements, historical works, and propaganda in periodicals, have been extracted using historical discourse analysis. Comparative historical analysis has identified similarities and differences in interpreting the above-mentioned regions’ pasts. It is pointed out that the historical arguments and concepts used by the Soviet power to justify the annexations became the foundation for the historical discourse. The article analyzes the introduction of the myth of “longsuffering lands” into historical narratives, which interpreted the Soviet territorial conquests as the liberation of oppressed peoples. It has been established that the representation of Southern Bessarabia and Northern Bukovyna’s pasts corresponded to the Soviet concept of “Ukrainian people’s reunification.” However, the distinction between these regions’ ethnic composition and historical development influenced the politics of shaping historical memory.

ОТАН ТАРИХЫНДАҒЫ ЖОШЫ ҰЛЫСЫНЫҢ ЗЕРТТЕЛУІ: КЕҢЕСТІК КЕЗЕҢ ЖӘНЕ ҚАЗІРГІ ТАРИХ (САЛЫСТЫРМАЛЫ ТАЛДАУ)

The article compares the degree of study of the history of the Ulus of Jochi, described in the works "History of the Kazakh SSR" (1988), published during the Soviet period, as well as "History of Kazakhstan" (1998), first published during the years of independence. In this work, the Soviet concept for the study of the history of the Ulus of Jochi was formed, moreover, it was revealed that the content of the topic was not changed after independence. Analyzing scientific works, the author revealed similarities between academic publications and introduced a new set of historical data into works published during the years of independence. After discussing the mentioned topic in the academic environment, and then analyzing it before being nominated to the state level, he conducted a comprehensive examination. It is worth noting that when studying the history of the Jochi Ulus, the Soviet conclusion was firmly established when considering this issue. The paper describes a set of theoretical concepts related to the history of the Golden Horde by comparing two academic publications.

The Faure report and the Western and Soviet concepts of lifelong education

The Faure report and the Western and Soviet concepts of lifelong education

“Непоінформований і непричетний вождь”: колективізація та Голод 1932–1933 рр. у біографіях Й. Сталіна радянського періоду

Biographies of J. Stalin were an important component of the official communist propaganda during all history of the USSR. The first edited in USSR biography of J. Stalin was prepared in 1936 by French writer Henri Barbusse. The first edition of an official “Short Biography” of J. Stalin prepared by Soviet authors appeared in 1939. Main conceptual schemes of these two books were repeated in popular biographies of J. Stalin by Anna Louise Strong and Dmitry Volkogonov, published after Second World War. The large influence of official Soviet concepts is also noticeable in the books of Roy Medvedev and Anton Antonov-Ovsienko, formally independent of the communist propaganda apparatus (these two books were published in the USA without permission of Soviet authorities). The USSR vigorously denied that the Holodomor had occurred. According to the main schemes of Soviet propaganda, J. Stalin did not have information about real problems of collectivization and scale of starvation of people in 1932–1933, as well as was not personally responsible for the large-scale victims of collectivization and the man-made famine Holodomor. All authors of Stalin’s biographies of the Soviet period emphasized the inevitability of collectivization and defended the thesis, that Soviet policy of dekulakization had support of a large number of people. All Soviet biographies of J. Stalin in different way deny of falsify the fact of Holodomor 1932–1933.

ОТАН ТАРИХЫНДАҒЫ ЖОШЫ ҰЛЫСЫНЫҢ ЗЕРТТЕЛУІ: КЕҢЕСТІК КЕЗЕҢ ЖӘНЕ ҚАЗІРГІ ТАРИХ (САЛЫСТЫРМАЛЫ ТАЛДАУ)

The article compares the degree of study of the history of the Ulus of Jochi, described in the works "History of the Kazakh SSR" (1988), published during the Soviet period, as well as "History of Kazakhstan" (1998), first published during the years of independence. In this work, the Soviet concept for the study of the history of the Ulus of Jochi was formed, moreover, it was revealed that the content of the topic was not changed after independence. Analyzing scientific works, the author revealed similarities between academic publications and introduced a new set of historical data into works published during the years of independence. After discussing the mentioned topic in the academic environment, and then analyzing it before being nominated to the state level, he conducted a comprehensive examination. It is worth noting that when studying the history of the Jochi Ulus, the Soviet conclusion was firmly established when considering this issue. The paper describes a set of theoretical concepts related to the history of the Golden Horde by comparing two academic publications.

The influence of the concept of the significance of private interests of humans and citizens on the system of public governance

Purpose. The aim of the study is to determine the peculiarities of the influence of the Soviet concept of the insignificance of the private interests of a person and a citizen in comparison with the interests of the state on the public administration system. Methods. The methodological basis of the study was general scientific and special methods of scientific research based on a systematic approach to the study of phenomena and processes. The article used the historical-legal and comparative legal methods, as well as the method of documentary analysis. Results. It is substantiated that the management system of the time when the Ukrainian lands became part of the USSR was characterized by: a) neglect of the principle of humanism, depreciation of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen defined in the Constitutions of the USSR and the Ukrainian SSR; b) the dual nature of public administration, which combined the real powers of the only ruling party in the state, and derivatives of the first powers of the authorities and local self-government, which were of a secondary nature and could not contradict the will and decision of the Communist Party; c) the organized and formal nature of many management processes, which was explained by the planned economy and the absence of private ownership of the means of production and the inability, as a result, to use the self-regulating mechanisms of the market economy; d) lack of effective feedback between the resolution of important public policy issues and their approval or disapproval by citizens. Scientific novelty. The features of the Soviet concept of state administration in terms of influence on the level of protection of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, the level of social activity and responsibility of society are determined. Practical significance. The results of the study can be used in further administrative and legal studies of public administration issues in the preparation of lectures and training sessions on administrative law.

Role of the Baltic Republics in Soviet-French relations during the Non-recognition Period, 1919-1924

This article aims to define the role played by the Baltic Republics in the Soviet-French relations during the non-recognition period. The author tries to determine the place, which the Baltic Republics occupied in the French and Soviet conceptions of the “sanitary cordon,” to analyse the correlation between the ambitions and the capabilities of Paris and Moscow in Eastern Europe, to demonstrate the Soviet response to the interaction between the Baltic Republics and France. The article is based on the materials taken from the different French archives, as well as from the published French and Soviet diplomatic documents. The author emphasizes the ambiguity of the role played by the “Baltic factor” in the Soviet-French relations. The Baltic Republics (especially, Latvia and Estonia) were perceived by the French leadership as a part of the “sanitary cordon” aimed to separate Germany and the Soviet Russia from each other and to preclude their eventual “collusion” in the Eastern Europe. On the contrary, Moscow aimed to weaken the “sanitary cordon.” Paris didn’t exclude that the cooperation with future Russia performing the role of the counterbalance to Germany would be more important for France than full independence of the Baltic Republics. The Kremlin and the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs welcomed this point of view and tried to support those French political leaders that developed such an approach. The dynamics of the post-war international relations, as well as the priority given by the French government to the “German threat”, prompted Paris to recognize the USSR, which met the interests of Moscow. The considerations of the “big politics” were more important than the voices of the “small countries” which tried to influence the interaction between the more powerful actors.

Генеза, динаміка та сучасний станнаукового дискурсу з проблеми голоду 1921–1923 рр. в УСРР в українській історіографії

The aim of the article is a conceptual understanding of the genesis, development,and current state of the scientific controversy on the issue of the famine of 1921–1923 in Ukrainianhistoriography based on a critical analysis of historiographical sources.The scientific novelty of the publication is determined by the analysis of the conceptualfoundations of the scientific heritage of Ukrainian historians on the problem of the famine of 1921–1923 in Ukraine.Conclusions. Studies of the famine of 1921–1923. in Ukrainian historiography, it was initiated byNorth American historians of the Ukrainian diaspora in the colonial-imperial discourse, accordingto which the famine was seen as a consequence of the colonial policy of the Russian occupationgovernment aimed at plundering Ukraine’s resources and denationalizing Ukrainians. On thebasis of this methodological approach, the concept of predetermination of this famine was formed«starvation politic» the Bolsheviks, which aimed to use crop failure to suppress the insurgency ofUkrainians. In the 1950s, to characterize the famine of 1921–1923, the term «artificial famine»was used, as previously used as a functional synonym for the Holodomor of 1932–1933. Sincethe 1980s. Lenin’s «hunger policy» began to be considered as a model of J. Stalin’s organization ofthe Holodomor of 1932–1933., and since the 2020s. – as a component of the policy of genocide ofUkrainians by the Leninist-Stalinist leadership.The domestic historiography of the problem was formed within the Soviet historiographicalprocess. The fundamental principles of the Soviet concept of famine were laid down in the writingsof party-Soviet leaders of the early 1920s. on the principles of Marxist-Leninist methodology. Itsclass, party, and imperial character methodologically, factually, and thematically limited the studyof the history of famine. Finally, the Soviet ideological construct of the history of the famine wasformed by Russian historians in the 1970s. from certain historical mythologemes. He imaginedan imperial-colonial myth that concealed the true cause of the famine in the Ukrainian SSR – theanti-Ukrainian colonial policy of the Moscow party-Soviet center. The Soviet myth of famine servedas an integral component of ideological colonialism in Ukraine. Positive changes in nationalhistoriography have emerged since the second half of the 80s. Ukrainian scientists have attemptedto find new theoretical and conceptual foundations for studying the history of famine.Defining the conceptual foundations of modern national historiography of the first massartificial famine in Soviet Ukraine, it is worth noting that its development began in line with thetotalitarian paradigm, while imperial-colonial discourse remained on the margins for some time.Trying to break out of a rather mechanistic scheme of covering Soviet history, the researchersresorted to the methodological experience of foreign Western historiography. They did a lot to clearthe historiographical space from the imperial-colonial myths of Russian historiography. Since the2000s. the history of the first famine in Soviet Ukraine begins to be considered in the discourse ofgenocide. The peculiarity of the development of the Ukrainian historiography of the first Sovietfamine in recent times was the spread of its interpretation, first as artificial or deliberately organized,and over time, on the basis of the discovery of previously unknown facts of mass famine in 1922–1923, not only in officially starving (southeastern), but also in other areas – as «mass artificial».

Socialist worldmaking: The political economy of urban comparison in the Global Cold War

This article revisits comparative urban studies produced during the Cold War in the framework of ‘socialist worldmaking’, or multiple, evolving and sometimes antagonistic practices of cooperation between socialist countries in Eastern Europe and decolonising countries in Africa and Asia. Much like the recent ‘new comparative urbanism’, these studies extended the candidates, terms and positionalities of comparison beyond the Global North. This article focuses on operative concepts employed by Soviet, Eastern European, African and Asian scholars and professionals in economic and spatial planning across diverse locations, and shows how they were produced by means of ‘adaptive’ and ‘appropriative’ comparison. While adaptive comparison was instrumental in the application of Soviet concepts in countries embarking on the socialist development path, appropriative comparison juxtaposed concepts from various contexts – whether the ‘West’ or the ‘East’ – in order to select those best suitable for the means and needs on the ground. This article argues that this conceptual production was conditioned by the political economy of socialist worldmaking and shows how these experiences are useful for a more critical advancement of comparative urban research today.

PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF STEM EDUCATION IMPLEMENTATION IN UKRAINE

It has been established that despite significant obstacles and stereotypes regarding the introduction of STEAM education in Ukraine, this process is inevitable, as leading Ukrainian educators claim that the previous Soviet concept of education is utopian and ineffective. It is determined that if Ukraine aspires to become a leading European state, then changing the education system is the main factor of success. It is stated that in the conditions of transition to the New modernized Ukrainian school the introduction of STEM education remains the most priority direction of the educational system of Ukraine. It is determined that due to the consolidation of efforts the introduction of STEAM education is becoming one of the real goals of the New Ukrainian School. Only in the last few years, the legal framework for the implementation of STEAM in Ukraine has been created, the Web-STEAM-school is working, the collection of materials "STEM-week" is published, scientific conferences are systematically held, a virtual STEM-center is opened, which is a huge step forward.

The American and Joint Origins of Operational Depth in the Meuse-Argonne Campaign

A common view is that the U.S. military adopted wholesale the Soviet concept of operational depth in the 1970s and 1980s. However, a closer look at U.S. Army concepts, doctrine, and planning reveals that the concept, word, and definition of depth existed in the U.S. military prior to the 1970s. The beginnings of depth in the U.S. Army predate even the great interwar Soviet theorists. The American idea traces to the World War I era, during which it was made manifest in the Joint campaign and operations known as the Meuse-Argonne offensive.

Andragogy: Theory and Practice of Adult Education Development in Ukraine

At this point, there are no systematic studies on the problems of adult education as a field of scientific and theoretical elaboration and its transformation in andragogy in Ukraine. The article aims to conduct a holistic and systematic analysis of establishing and developing andragogy as a theory and practice of adult education in Ukraine between the late 19th century - the 20th century to use the positive historical experience in modern andragogy. The article justifies the periodization of andragogy development in Ukraine (the 1850s-1917 - the emergence of theory and practice of adult learning in the context of developing adult education as a form of social and educational movement and out-of-school education; 1918-1940 - the establishment of scientific principles of adult learning in the system of illiteracy elimination and political education; the 1950s-1980s - the scientific elaboration of andragogical problems in the light of the Soviet concept of adult pedagogy; the 1990s - the early 21st century - the development of andragogy as a science, academic subject, social practice). The periodization of andragogy development in Ukraine has made it possible to identify the system-forming processes in adult education at the level of structural and organizational forms. A historiographical analysis of the problem under study shows that Ukrainian scholars pay much attention to adult education as a socio-cultural phenomenon with deep historical traditions and heritage. Despite the growing interest of scholars in this particular problem, the term “andragogy” is not commonly used in the context of their research. At the same time, almost all authors are interested in the theory and practice of adult learning.

Lithuania's Demarcation of Information from Poland's Solidarity Movement in 1980-1981

The aim of the article: Despite the fact that everything we know in Polish history about the emergence of Solidarity [Polish: Solidarność], Polish trade unions, in 1980-1981, and the conflict with the communist totalitarian regime is described in sources as ‘the Polish Crisis’, the question remains open about the contemporaneous deepening communication crisis of the communist government in Lithuania, whose history had long – until the middle of the 20th century – been very closely linked to the development of Poland. From 1951 to 1989, Lithuania was separated from Poland by a double barbed-wire Soviet border barrier without any border crossing points. Nevertheless, the author proposes delving into what type of information control measures the Soviet regime used in influencing the Lithuanian people by undermining their interest in the workers’ strikes and the expanding trade union movement in Poland 40 years ago, trying to set Lithuanians against Polish society, and also how the media in the West helped renew the dialogue between Lithuanian and Polish diaspora organisations. Research methods: The author performed a content analysis of KGB documents in the Lithuanian Special Archives and examined the content of the Lithuanian SSR mass media and the mass media of the Lithuanian diaspora in the United States. Results and conclusions: The Soviet concept of security that was implemented by the repressive structure of the KGB was largely associated with the restriction of information, censorship and self-censorship of the population. However, it was also associated with the recruitment of Lithuanian citizens into ongoing cooperation with the secret service to collect data about Polish people who were ‘disloyal’ to the regime and transfer information to the security service of communist Poland, so the content of these reports must be disclosed. Cognitive value: Thus, the article provides the broader context, in which the content of the propaganda press is only one element of the system that controlled the public space.